Delegates from Pakistan and Afghanistan met on 13-14 May for the Technical Advisory Group meeting to assess progress and sharpen plans aimed at interrupting poliovirus transmission in 2026. The meeting brought together TAG members, public health experts, programme leadership and partner agencies to review recent cases, environmental surveillance patterns and campaign outcomes.<\/p>\n
Dr Sebastian Taylor<\/strong>, chairing the TAG, urged enhanced regional collaboration and precise operational planning to accelerate Polio Eradication efforts. He stressed that sustained focus on execution and cross-border coordination would be critical to closing remaining transmission gaps between the two countries.<\/p>\n Ms Ayesha Raza Farooq<\/strong>, the Prime Minister\u2019s Focal Person for Polio Eradication, reaffirmed Pakistan\u2019s determination to make 2026 the year poliovirus transmission is stopped. She outlined priorities including strengthened campaign quality, intensified surveillance activities and deeper community engagement to reach missed children, particularly in high-risk areas.<\/p>\n Participants examined the current epidemiological situation and recent polio cases alongside environmental surveillance trends that inform targeted responses. The review of campaign performance highlighted operational priorities in persistent transmission zones such as Southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Karachi, where leadership pledged tighter microplanning and better field supervision.<\/p>\n Discussion emphasized the importance of robust surveillance systems, improved vaccine delivery during campaigns and coordinated cross-border measures with Afghanistan to prevent importation and onward spread. Partners agreed that operational excellence, data-driven targeting and community trust are central to sustaining momentum toward Polio Eradication.<\/p>\n Through continued partnership, focused operations and community support, stakeholders said they remain committed to a polio-free Pakistan and to contributing to a polio-free region by 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Polio Eradication TAG meeting charts intensified campaigns, surveillance and cross-border coordination to stop poliovirus in 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":18828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}